Katsuhiko Abuno

Production

Katsuhiko Abuno

Known for

Production

Credits

7 titles

Known for

The Chocolate Man poster
NR

In Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, “QUON CHOCOLATE” is gaining popularity for its carefully selected flavors and colorful designs. This brand, which now has 52 locations nationwide, has continued to offer a creative workplace to people of many diverse backgrounds, including those with mental or physical disabilities, single parents, those who have never attended school, to sexual minorities, and many others. This film depicts the tumultuous 19 years of the chocolate brand’s pursuit of ideals. The newest work of the producer of the documentary “Life is Fruity.”

The Chocolate Man

2023

Promise: The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, The Life of a Death-row Inmate poster
NR

Masaru Okunishi is a prisoner who has been on death-row for over 40 years. In 1961, 5 women died from drinking poisoned wine in a small village gathering in Nabari City in Mie Prefecture. After his arrest, he appealed his innocence on the grounds that the police coerced his confession. He was found not guilty in the first trial. However, it was overturned and he received a death sentence in the second trial, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1972. Since then, Okunishi has continuously appealed for retrial, fighting against the horror of capital punishment. This TV dramatization of the Nabari Poisoned Wine Case depicts Okunishi in an isolated cell, his mother’s unwavering belief in his innocence, and the effort of people who have rallied to Okunishi’s defense.

Promise: The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, The Life of a Death-row Inmate

2013

Sleeping Village poster
6.7

In 1961, a spectacular criminal case shocks Japan: at what became known as the “Nabari Poison Wine” incident, five people lose their lives at a village social gathering. One of the attendants, Masaru OKUNISHI, is made out as the main suspect. Rumor has it that he wanted to kill his wife and his lover in order to end his extra-marital affair. After being questioned by the police for days, he signs a confession, only to withdraw it soon afterwards. Nonetheless, he is sentenced to death and all pleas for a retrial are denied.

Sleeping Village

2019

The Limit poster
NR

In 1961, in the quiet village of Kuzuo, five women died after drinking wine at a community gathering. Masaru Okunishi, then 35, was arrested. He was first found not guilty, but later sentenced to death based only on a written confession taken under suspicious circumstances—despite no physical evidence. Okunishi insisted on his innocence until his death in prison at 89. His sister, Miyoko Oka, now 94, has spent her life trying to prove it, submitting ten appeals with new evidence—all denied. Under Japanese law, only close family can request a retrial. With limited time left, she continues to fight for the truth.

The Limit

2025

Jagaimo Taishi ~ Saigai Kyūjo Inu e no Funtō-ki ~ poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Jagaimo Taishi ~ Saigai Kyūjo Inu e no Funtō-ki ~

2017

Thief of Blues Skies poster
NR

A documentary about a man who continues to document the "Yokkaichi Asthma", caused by the pollution in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, which became a social problem in the 1960s and 1970s. Together with Mr. Yoshiro Sawai, who published the book "Record of Pollution" and has supported the victims not only in court but also mentally, this book brings the problems of Yokkaichi, past and present, into sharp relief.

Thief of Blues Skies

2010

Behind the camera

The Chocolate Man poster
NR

In Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, “QUON CHOCOLATE” is gaining popularity for its carefully selected flavors and colorful designs. This brand, which now has 52 locations nationwide, has continued to offer a creative workplace to people of many diverse backgrounds, including those with mental or physical disabilities, single parents, those who have never attended school, to sexual minorities, and many others. This film depicts the tumultuous 19 years of the chocolate brand’s pursuit of ideals. The newest work of the producer of the documentary “Life is Fruity.”

The Chocolate Man

2023

Promise: The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, The Life of a Death-row Inmate poster
NR

Masaru Okunishi is a prisoner who has been on death-row for over 40 years. In 1961, 5 women died from drinking poisoned wine in a small village gathering in Nabari City in Mie Prefecture. After his arrest, he appealed his innocence on the grounds that the police coerced his confession. He was found not guilty in the first trial. However, it was overturned and he received a death sentence in the second trial, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1972. Since then, Okunishi has continuously appealed for retrial, fighting against the horror of capital punishment. This TV dramatization of the Nabari Poisoned Wine Case depicts Okunishi in an isolated cell, his mother’s unwavering belief in his innocence, and the effort of people who have rallied to Okunishi’s defense.

Promise: The Nabari Poisoned Wine Case, The Life of a Death-row Inmate

2013

Sleeping Village poster
6.7

In 1961, a spectacular criminal case shocks Japan: at what became known as the “Nabari Poison Wine” incident, five people lose their lives at a village social gathering. One of the attendants, Masaru OKUNISHI, is made out as the main suspect. Rumor has it that he wanted to kill his wife and his lover in order to end his extra-marital affair. After being questioned by the police for days, he signs a confession, only to withdraw it soon afterwards. Nonetheless, he is sentenced to death and all pleas for a retrial are denied.

Sleeping Village

2019

The Limit poster
NR

In 1961, in the quiet village of Kuzuo, five women died after drinking wine at a community gathering. Masaru Okunishi, then 35, was arrested. He was first found not guilty, but later sentenced to death based only on a written confession taken under suspicious circumstances—despite no physical evidence. Okunishi insisted on his innocence until his death in prison at 89. His sister, Miyoko Oka, now 94, has spent her life trying to prove it, submitting ten appeals with new evidence—all denied. Under Japanese law, only close family can request a retrial. With limited time left, she continues to fight for the truth.

The Limit

2025

Jagaimo Taishi ~ Saigai Kyūjo Inu e no Funtō-ki ~ poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Jagaimo Taishi ~ Saigai Kyūjo Inu e no Funtō-ki ~

2017

Thief of Blues Skies poster
NR

A documentary about a man who continues to document the "Yokkaichi Asthma", caused by the pollution in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, which became a social problem in the 1960s and 1970s. Together with Mr. Yoshiro Sawai, who published the book "Record of Pollution" and has supported the victims not only in court but also mentally, this book brings the problems of Yokkaichi, past and present, into sharp relief.

Thief of Blues Skies

2010

The Heart of the Emergency Room poster
NR

A variety of patients are brought in by ambulance 24 hours everyday. In Japan, ambulance as a part of municipal fire departments, do not charge for transportation to hospitals. Under the motto of "emergency care that never refuses," the Ekisaikai Hospital in Nagoya accepts everyone from the elderly with no relatives to those in need. However, the number of ambulances carrying critically ill patients reached a record high due to the pandemic. Patients rejected by other hospitals are pouring into the Ekisaikai Hospital, and the beds are filling up fast... Documentary filmmaker Takuro Adachi observes doctors and patients in various generations and background, and listens to their real voices.

The Heart of the Emergency Room

2024